Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I had to leave during the meeting and that I missed some of the contributions. Some, including Dr. Fennelly in his submission, have raised the fact that the Minister is having his own consultations and we are having our discussions separately. People have raised this with me privately too. The answer to that is that the Minister has no control over this committee. We are the legislative body and we are legislating. The Minister can have whatever consultation he wants. I hope it is useful. I certainly would be interested in reading the submissions but legislation will be passed here. That is why we have continued with our deliberations. The Minister has no legislative function in this committee. Whatever he proposes is simply a proposal. That is why it is important we hear the witnesses, but I certainly will want to read the submissions. There is no question about that.

I know that some, including Mr. Mulconry, have raised questions about catchment areas. Can I dwell on that issue for a moment and see what are the pros and cons of catchment areas and whether anybody has strong views on them?

Is that possible?